The Car Culture Of Lahore – An Overview Of Cars In Lahore

Lahore Lahore Aay! This famous quotation is used all over Pakistan by the people who have been to Lahore even once in their lives. Whether you’re talking about the historical heritage or the tastiest Desi food, Lahore has it all.

We have decided to extract our point of interest from the Lahore and present you people with the Car Cultureof Lahore. Being one of the busiest cities of Pakistan with massive traffic all across its roads, Lahore has a very traditional culture of cars apart of some exceptions.

Recently, I’ve had some guests from Mauritius. They were very keen to taste the traditional Pakistani food so I took them to the best place I knew of. I treated them with the traditional Desi food at famous a restaurant next to the Badshahi Mosque. During a discussion while eating, I was surprised to know that one of them owned an Audi and a Mercedes Benz and those two were the only cars he liked (pretty normal for people living abroad but not for us). He inquired me about the cars we have here in Pakistan and I replied, quoting the names of some of the best I’ve seen here including the Lamborghinis and Ferraris but he thought I wasn’t true about them. We left the table and while walking to the parking lot, he stopped and started staring at a brand new Mercedes SL which was parked between a brand new BMW 5 series and a Mercedes S Klasse. I don’t know what he was thinking but he passed me a smile and continued towards our car.

That was the moment; I thought that the Car culture of Lahore is so unpredictable. The Androon Lahore is a place which is full of bikes and rikshaws and public transport and if I had a good car, I would think twice before taking it to such place but I don’t comprehend the mentality of people who bring their exotics and luxury cars to such places.

In the exotic collection, cars in Lahore include Ferraris including 2 599s, Lamborghinis and way too many Porsches and Audis including a few R8s. Our sources tell us that there are some more exotics that are never seen on public roads due to unknown reasons. In the tuner section, Lahore is full of Mazda RX8s, RX7s, Nissan GTRs, 350Zs and so on.

What’s interesting in this culture is the recent revival of the tuning category. Probably, majority of old cars in Lahore which have a sporty history are swapped with engines that make them go like a bullet and would embarrass a pretty expensive and quick car with a loud exhaust mocking them in their faces. More interestingly, this category is one of the most unpredictable. Moreover, getting the suspension revamped and running on a lower height with shorter springs or coilovers is the new Dolce&Gabbana. I won’t be surprised now if I see a pretty fast Daihatsu Charade of the 80s because that car is capable of running on any FWD engine or a 6th Generation Honda Civic scrapping its underbody due to immensely low ride height because our young and enthusiast automobile freaks are willing to spend all of their pocket money on them.

The racing scene around the cantonment area on the weekends depicts the true image of the Car Culture in Lahore. You see every type of car and every type of car freak present at the scene and the atmosphere of the night is lively. You hear all types of cars and bikes roaring across the roads and that result in an instant adrenaline rush which would make you floor the throttle of your car, even if you’re on a Suzuki Alto.

So, this was the Car Culture of Lahore expressed by someone who has been witnessing the Saturday night scenes since a long time now. Someone who always wanted a fast car and be a part of the Car Culture of Lahore, but was never allowed by his parents.

Some images below would give an over view of what good cars we have in Lahore:

Fahad Mehmood is an ardent car enthusiast and a photographer by profession. He's been an active PakWheels member since the beginning. When he's not writing about cars, he's shooting people and things with his camera. He hopes to go viral one day.